


you are the life i needed all along

by precognition



Category: One Piece
Genre: Bickering, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, M/M, Post-Wano Arc (One Piece), Relationship Study, Sanji Is Not A Vinsmoke, i do not have much else to tag lolll., it's just gay people idk, obligatory, technically. kind of.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29095116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/precognition/pseuds/precognition
Summary: title from futile devices - sufjan stevensSanji doesn’t meet Luffy’s other brother when he first reappears. At that time, he’s already on his way to Zou, and from there to Whole Cake Island, and to what he largely regards as the worst week of his life. In fact, it takes him until several months after that whole fiasco, and the reopening of Wano, to first meet the man Luffy calls his big brother.
Relationships: Sabo/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	you are the life i needed all along

**Author's Note:**

> not enough sabo/sanji fics and i decided to fix that. a study in how their relationship develops from the honeymoon phase to being an old married couple.

Sanji doesn’t meet Luffy’s other brother when he first reappears. At that time, he’s already on his way to Zou, and from there to Whole Cake Island, and to what he largely regards as the worst week of his life. In fact, it takes him until several months after that whole fiasco, and the reopening of Wano, to first meet the man Luffy calls his big brother.

The first thing he notices is that Sabo, unlike Luffy and Ace, is blond. The second thing he notices is the extensive scarring covering much of the left side of Sabo’s face, and trailing down his neck. He is so caught up in observing these two facts that he doesn’t notice Sabo’s hand move until his flaming finger is already at the tip of Sanji’s cigarette.

“Need a light?”

The intonation is so like Ace’s, even in Sabo’s smoother, more clipped voice, that for a second Sanji thinks he’s looking at a dead man. The deja vu quickly disappears, though. There’s nothing of Ace in the face looking back at him - polite smile in place where Ace’s wide grin would have been, working brown eye open wide when Ace’s always squinted shut when he smiled. Sanji nods, and lets Luffy’s brother light his cigarette. 

* * *

Sanji does not think about Sabo much in the next few weeks. For his own health, he has made a habit of not letting Luffy’s brothers occupy his brain, and he sees no reason to change this now. Unfortunately for him, it is much more difficult to do this when the brother in question is currently sitting at his kitchen table, waiting for lunch with Sanji’s crew. 

Sabo had shown up this morning, with only a vague explanation as to why he was there. Sanji understands the secrecy - Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army isn’t a position suited for someone with loose lips - but he would’ve appreciated a bit of a warning before he had to feed another bottomless pit. Luffy’s eating style can be described gently as animalistic, and Sanji shudders to think of how his older brother will compare. 

Sanji places his painstakingly prepared meal on the table, and immediately leans away as the flurry of hands begins. When the chaos is over, though, and Zoro has wrangled Luffy into a headlock while Nami tests how close she can get pieces of meat before his neck will stretch out to grab them, Sanji is surprised to see that Sabo has not only managed to wrangle some meat from his younger brother, but is also eating it calmly with a fork and knife. 

By the end of the meal, he will have put away just as much food as Luffy, but  _ without _ managing to spray it across half the table. Sanji is impressed, and when Sabo places his silverware properly on his plate and offers to help clean up, he’s startled enough to accept.

* * *

It’s been a week since Sabo stopped by the Sunny on one of his missions. He ended up staying for a few days, and was just unfailingly polite and helpful enough to put Sanji off balance. He’s not used to that kind of kindness, not with the way his crew is. Of course he loves them with all his heart - they’re his family, after all - but he certainly wouldn’t describe any of them as  _ gentlemen _ . Sabo, on the other hand, is every inch a gentleman, from his perfectly tied cravat to his impeccable manners.

Sanji is particularly fascinated by his gloves. He’s never seen the man without them on, and can’t help but be curious if the leather is as high-quality as it looks. It must be, for him to wear them all day with so little discomfort. Sanji wonders what it would feel like to run his fingers over it. He thinks he might like to find out.

* * *

The next time Sabo is on the Sunny, he corners Sanji alone in the galley after dinner. Sanji doesn’t notice him at first - he’s humming slightly while he does the washing up, and he trusts that Zoro will warn him about any incoming threats without him needing to have his Observation Haki dialed up.

The result of this is that when Sabo rests one gloved hand on his shoulder, Sanji jumps half a foot in the air and drops the plate he’s been drying. Sabo catches it before it can fall past his waist, and slips next to Sanji to start putting the dishes away. Sanji wonders when he had time to learn where everything goes in the Sunny’s kitchen, but that thought is quickly chased from his head when Sabo’s fingers brush his as he passes a plate over. The leather is just as soft as he’d imagined it would be.

Sabo waits until the dishes are all put away before he sits on the table, one leg tucked behind the other at the ankle. He smiles at Sanji while the cook pulls out a cigarette, and this time, when he brings his hand up to light it, Sanji grabs it before he can fully pull away. Sabo smiles, and kisses Sanji’s knuckles.

“May I take you out to dinner sometime?”

Sanji marvels. He really is a gentleman.

* * *

When Sanji sees Sabo next, it’s to make good on that offer through a meeting on the shore of a nearby island. Sanji presents Sabo with a dozen roses, picked from Usopp’s garden in exchange for a week’s worth of watch. Sabo tucks them into his elbow, and offers Sanji his arm and a restaurant reservation in return.

The restaurant is remarkably high class - after having seen the places Luffy likes to eat (shady barbecue joints, off strangers’ porches, a literal hole in a wall once), Sanji had felt no small sense of trepidation, but standing in front of a restaurant whose door advertised that “casual elegant attire was suggested”, he felt his hopes raise. When his date, who appeared to have changed from his usual faded blue into a sharper navy suit, held the door open into a room lit by soft candlelight, with light music playing, he felt his worries fade away entirely.

It may have been too soon for that sense of relaxation, though. After their delicious dinner was finished - and who knew Sabo had any idea which was the dessert fork! - and the unsurprisingly interesting conversation finished, Sanji certainly wasn’t expecting his date to look at him with a daring glint in his good eye, grab his hand, and sprint out of the restaurant. Definitely Luffy’s brother.

* * *

The next few weeks pass in a bit of a daze for Sanji. He comes back to himself, though, when Luffy announces that his brother will be staying on the ship for a few weeks. Neither Luffy nor Sabo, when he arrives, elaborate on why, but Sanji catches the blond watching the horizon with intent eyes. He decides not to pry.

In the mornings, Sabo wakes up early to come sit in the kitchen while Sanji cooks. Sanji has had his coffee order memorized since the first time he was on the Sunny, but he lets Sabo tell him every time anyway. He starts brushing up on his latte art by writing messages in the foam. After meals, Sabo helps wash the dishes, and in the afternoon, Sanji makes him tea with rose petals in it.

When Zoro walks in on them kissing in the kitchen for the fifth time, he almost puts his sword through the wall. Nami decides to start charging them for public displays of affection, but Sanji finds he couldn’t care less. He gets to indulge the disgustingly domestic side of himself as much as he wants, at least for a little, and no amount of money he owes her will change that. Sabo doesn’t seem to care much either, but Sanji decides that’s probably because he never plans to pay up.

* * *

Sanji has watch that night, and, when he makes his way to the crow’s nest, he finds Sabo already there waiting for him. Sanji idly notes the dark circles under his eyes as Sabo offers him the blanket he’s brought up with him. He gratefully accepts. They sit side by side for a few minutes, until Sanji realizes he’s focusing more on the hot line where Sabo’s shoulder is pressed against him than on scanning for threats, and he moves to stand up.

Sabo stands with him, dropping the blanket as he does, and goes to stand by the the side of the crow’s nest, scanning the dark water below. Sanji laughs lightly.

“Are you here to spend time with me, or just to soothe your own paranoia?”

Sabo turns to respond, the start of a laugh already showing on his face, when suddenly his grin goes slack, and he lists to one side. Sanji catches him before he can hit the ground.

Zoro takes his watch for the rest of the night, because Sanji trusts him to keep his mouth shut and not worry the captain unnecessarily. Sanji takes Sabo into the galley and waits for him to wake up. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Sabo blinks back to consciousness to find his boyfriend sitting across the table from him, visible eyebrow raised as he waits for an explanation.

Sabo grins sheepishly. “Ah, sorry if I scared you. I’ve just been busy with work lately, and haven’t been sleeping as much.”

Sanji’s eyebrow just climbs higher. “I’ve seen you running on very little sleep, you still don’t just pass out like that. You’ve been overworking yourself.”

Sabo rolls his eyes. “You’re such a mother hen, honestly. I’m doing fine, it won’t happen again.”

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. It won’t kill you to take a break for a few hours, you know.”

“But it might kill someone else.” Sabo responds quietly.

* * *

Things change after that night. Sanji and Sabo have a long talk about sacrifice and estranged birth families. When they finish, something in their relationship shifts - moving past the honeymoon phase.

When Sabo comes to visit, he still wakes up early to sit in the galley as Sanji cooks. Now, though, the room is filled with the sounds of bickering. Sabo mocks Sanji for his haircut, asking how he fights with only one eye showing. Sanji responds that it’s better than Sabo can fight with two, and Sabo looks like he’s half debating jumping over the table right there to prove him wrong. When Sanji makes Sabo’s latte, the foam spells out invectives instead of endearments, but it’s still made exactly how he likes it.

At dinner, Sabo asks Sanji to pass the salt, and Sanji launches into a monologue about how put-upon he is, and how he seasons the food  _ perfectly _ , so why would Sabo even need to use the salt anyway. Sabo reaches over a nervous Chopper to grab it anyway, before unscrewing the top and dumping it on Sanji’s plate. Sanji threatens to toss him in the ocean, but they still wash the dishes together when the meal is over.

Half of Sanji’s dresser is Sabo’s clothes now, but every time he goes looking for them he spends five minutes insulting Sanji’s taste in fashion - “garish” is his word of choice. Sanji retorts that at least he doesn’t dress like a pretentious noble. Sabo burns Sanji’s favorite tie in retaliation.

It’s a far cry from the beginning of their relationship, but there’s always a vase of roses in the galley when Sabo visits.

* * *

Sabo is on the ship more frequently now, often showing up late at night and leaving the next morning. He keeps a mini den den mushi on him at all times, and gets calls from the Revolutionaries fairly regularly. Sanji doesn’t eavesdrop, but he’s secretly pleased that Sabo is comfortable enough to talk business in front of him, even if he keeps his wording vague.

Koala calls as Sanji is getting dressed one morning. Sabo has been awake for an hour or so already, so he sits on the bed to talk while Sanji rifles around in their dresser. Sanji can pinpoint the moment his tone changes from his “work voice” to just chatting, and he tunes back in just in time to hear Sabo say, with a chuckle in his tone, “Yeah, sorry, I can’t go out with you tonight - the ol’ ball and chain is at it again.” 

Sanji thinks about the date he and his boyfriend have planned that evening, and Sabo’s habit of antagonizing him whenever possible, and puts the pieces together remarkably quickly. On the other end of the line, Koala hears an impressive string of invectives, including some very creative phrases that she files away for later, before her partner lets out a frankly embarrassing shriek, and the line goes dead. She decides to call back later.

* * *

It’s six in the morning when the crew of the Sunny are woken up by Sanji screaming. It takes some time for them all to get out of bed and over to where the noise is coming from - Zoro and Usopp in particular are heavy sleepers - but when they get there, they find Sanji standing in front of the open bathroom door, eyes wide.

The object of his ire - because his red face and the small flames coming from his feet do indicate ire - appears to be his boyfriend, who is standing in the door, hands covered in rubber gloves as he tries to placate the cook. 

“It’s just bleach, Sanji, it’s not that big a deal.” 

The slight laughter in his tone does nothing to calm the other man down, and Sanji immediately launches into a tirade about how damaging bleach is for your hair, and how disgusting it is to have to resort to “such methods”.

Luffy gives Sabo a questioning glance, and his brother laughs. “Sanji-san didn’t realize that I’m not a natural blond.”

The use of the honorific and the condescending tone send Sanji off into another rant, about authenticity of self, and something about betrayal. It’s difficult to hear over Sabo’s laughter. When the (natural) blond launches a flaming kick into Sabo’s face, knocking him against the wall, the crew slowly inches away, not wanting to get in the middle of another one of their fights.

Usopp sighs. “I wish they would just get to the part where they make out already. At least with that you can close your eyes.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed leave a comment if you liked or if you didn't maybe we can kiss


End file.
